This will most likely be a partial and to be edited in pieces report due to overheating, dinner and phone call expectations. My report is rather long for 10 turns.
(0)1220AD
Ugh! On closer inspection the situation looks desperate enough to require drastic measures.
First action is to switch science off and see we gain 109gpt.
Mao is 4 turns away from Bombay and 5 turns from Bangalore.
We can under no circumstances afford to lose either of those cities!
Bombay has LB, Axe, Archer, Warrior and Archer + Warrior on the Marble.
Bangalore has Crossbow, Axe, Archer and a Crossbow on the Iron. Additionally there is a Pike on the way from Delhi which can reach both cities in time.
I think we could hold either city with 2 upgrades if he doesn't come with more. To higher our chances of that I will get as many allies in as possible. A quick check shows that everybody except for Huayna would join us for a price, that price being giving up our CS monopoly. I don't like that at all, but would like losing this game far less, so I'll go ahead.
I make the following deals:
JC: War + 30g for Drama
Hatty: War + World Map + 20g for CS
Genghis: War + 30g for CS and Drama
Mao should feel a bit "unwell" now.
Now the question is what units we want whipped. I am usure here. Mao comes with Ch-Ko-Nu and WE and HA. We have no good counter to that mix. Delhi will produce a Mace next turn, so I set Bombay to Pike and growth next turn.
Whip the LBs in Madras, Calcutta and Lahore.
The last thing I do pre-turn is to change civics to Theocracy.
IBT: Yippee Mao withdrew his attack stack from our territory!!!!!!!!!!
But he pillaged with AH from the N and has another one 1W of Guangzhou.
(1) 1226AD
Delhi: Mace -> Mace
Madras: LB -> Cat
Calcutta: LB -> LB
Whip Pike in Bombay for 2 pop
New danger assesment:
HA can attack Bombay, but should rather go pillaging.
HA at Guangzhou will likely pillage Horses.
Guangzhou has LB + Spear. This is the city I see us taking after the immediate danger is over.
Plan:
The whipped LBs stay in their cities for defense in case of a sneak attack (I did not buy in Alex!). This is most likely unnecessary, but I prefer being safe before being sorry.
Produce Maces in Delhi and Cats in Madras for an attack on Guangzhou.
Build another Pike in Bombay then resume "Wonder Duty"
Upgrade Axe in Bomay just in case, then save cash for more flexibility when emergency upgrades are needed.
All cities are safe at the moment.
IBT: Mao's HA pillage Spices and Horses. No sign of his SOD.
(2)1232AD:
Bangalore: Barracks -> Pike
Kill 1st HA with Bombay Pike and 2nd with Delhi Pike. Cover Delhi Pike with Mace.
IBT: Nothing!
(3)1238AD
Lahore: LB -> Cat, LB moves towards Delhi
The immediate danger seems to be over. I switch Delhi to Barracks to get better Maces.
Decide to reward myself with a glass of wine.
Fear of Overheating save of edit and decide to reward myself with another glass of wine now that it was mentioned...
IBT: Huayna wants to trade Wheat for Corn. That's the trade I missed in my last turnset. I agree this time.
(4) 1244AD
Madras: Cat -> Cat, moves to Delhi
Huayna has circumnavigated.
I see Mao's attack stack again...next to Neapolis. What do you think are his chances to take it?
We got a Great Scientist in Delhi. He can either build an Academy or research towards Education for us. Now this is a difficult choice. I go for the 2493 immediate beakers for Education. My main reason to do this is that we were forced to switch off research for a good number of turns due to the war emergency and I don't want to risk losing Liberalism because of that.
Please do tell me if I should have chosen the Academy if you have a good reason for that. I'm very interested in improving my game and constructive critizism is always welcome.
(You could also just tell me I'm bloody stupid, but, although that's a fact, it won't improve my game

)
(5)1250AD
JC is an idiot. He only left a LB and a Spear in Neapolis. The rest moved out to go and attack somewhere while Mao and his SOD were merily bombarding his city. Stupid AI!
Research back up to 60% at +21gpt. We have enough cash in the coffers for 2 emergency upgrades. This looks ok to me.
(6)1256AD
Calcutta: Mace -> Mace, goes to Delhi
Delhi finishes Barracks and resumes Mace.
Bombay got a Pike and goes back on Spinal Minaret.
IBT: Mao sends another HA to pillage (a road he built) N of Bombay.
(7)1262AD
Delhi: Mace -> Cat
Cancel our planned attack on Guangzhou. They wish to join us on their own. Well, I see no reason not to welcome them.
Move LB and Mace towards it. It would be a shame to lose it again right away.
This messes with my plans though. I think going for Nanjing first is best now. I relocate the units I have been sending to Delhi to Bangalore.
Kill the offending HA.
IBT: Darn! Our HA-killer-Pike got killed by a Cho-Ko-Nu I couldn't see.

Another HA comes visiting.
(8)1268AD
Madras: Cat -> Mace
Bangalore: Pike -> Versailles
Lahore: Cat -> LB
I have to upgrade the units on the Marble as that's where the visiting HA is knocking. Warrior to Pike and Archer to LB.
I was unsure here what to chose for the Archer, LB or Crossbow? I'd be interested in hearing reasons for one or the other. I chose LB because it was cheaper and it could be used for city defense of Bombay if an emergency arises.
I switch research off again to refill the coffers.
IBT: HA does not attack (moves to forrest) and Cho-Ko-Nu goes back home.
(9)1274AD
Delhi: Cat -> Pike
Kill HA with Pike from Bombay and move Marble LB to cover.
Whip another Pike in Bombay.
IBT: Huayna demands Drama. I give it to him and he goes from Annoyed to Cautious.
(10)1280AD
Education -> Liberalism, Research is still switched off.
There is an unpromoted attack stack at Nanjing and 2 more Cats available next turn. You'll need them as Nanjing is on a hill so 2 Maces won't do the job.
There are only 2 LBs in Nanjing though.
More units are being produced, but I put Bombay and Bangalore back on Wonder Duty.
Mao seems to be mostly fighting with JC. We do get a HA visiting here and there around Bombay.
Our defenses are stabilised, but not by a lot. Should we get a new SOD from Mao, you need to shuffle troops from E to W. I went for the balanced approach and building a small attack force of our own, but there is enough to fight him off in total. It's just a bit spread out.
I don't know how much of Mao we want. Take Nanjing and then reevaluate the situation? We could maybe get some more up north. Or maybe we should be content with Guangzhou and Nanjing and go defensive until WW gets too bad. Mao and JC are nicely wasting their units on each other. No city has changed hands in my turns. Hatty and Genghis seem to be not getting really involved. Some pillaging at Nanjing is all I saw of them.
Divine Right is still a monopoly tech, so I don't fear for Versailles and Spinal Minaret (yet).
SM in 8 and Versailles in 27. I moved the Engineer from Delhi to Bangalore AFTER I saved and he'd give 1050 out of 1200h towards it, with 98h already invested. Your call if/when to use him. He's still in Delhi in the save!
I think these 10 turns went rather well and overall we are doing ok. We have some defenses up and got one Chinese city with the prospect of aquiring another one by force in the next few turns.
Good Luck Kikinit! Looking forward to seeing the development.
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